Interview with Paige Cuccaro, Author of Hellsbane

Paige Cuccaro is the author of Hellsbane, the first book in her urban fantasy series featuring angels, demons, and lots of danger for protagonist Emma Jane Hellsbane. Paige stopped by the virtual offices to discuss her book and her writing influences.

[Manga Maniac Café] Describe yourself in 140 characters or less.

[Paige Cuccaro] Wife, mom, writer who’d rather spend a quiet day weaving stories in her head than go on an all expense paid shopping spree anywhere…mostly.

[Manga Maniac Café] Can you tell us a little about your book, Hellsbane?

[Paige Cuccaro] Sure! Hellsbane is about a young woman who never quite felt normal and then one day finally discovers why. Emma Jane Hellsbane is half human, and half angel and now Heaven’s got a job for her: round up all the Fallen angels and their red-skinned, horned devil-demon minions and boot their butts back into the abyss. Only problem? The demons and their Fallen masters fight back…and they don’t fight fair.

Luckily for Emma, she can put a stop to the constant threat of having her head hacked off if she figures out which Fallen angel is her father—and then kill him before he kills her. Of course, in the meantime, she’ll have to avoid accidentally seducing her angelic mentor, help an old friend conquer his own Fallen sperm donor, and basically save the world from a cataclysmic divine smack down.

No one said being Heaven’s bounty hunter would be easy. But with a name like Hellsbane, Emma Jane was born for the job.

[Manga Maniac Café] How did you come up with the concept and the characters for your Hellsbane series?

[Paige Cuccaro] I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of angels and demons and their interaction with humans. There are so many documented claims from as far back as biblical times to present day. One of the most intriguing was the telling of the wars in heaven by Enoch (an ancestor of Noah). It was his claims that I based the story world of Hellsbane on. In a nut shell, according to Enoch, angels fell in love with the daughters of men and produced children (known as Nephilim) who were so monstrous, both physically and intellectually to humanity that they had to be destroyed and the angels who fathered them were cast out of heaven. So basically these angels were punished for loving humans too much, and loving the children they created and yet were cast in this unholy evil light.

I started to wonder what if it didn’t end thousands of years ago? What if angels were still falling, still producing nephilim off spring? Why don’t we see these giant half angelic creatures walking around? And then I began answering my own questions.

Superior evolution has made the nephilim less obvious, less of a threat to humanity. They’d no longer be monstrous, instead they’d look like you and me so they could blend in. But they’d still have these awesome angelic powers lying dormant inside them. And since it was love that created them, they wouldn’t be necessarily evil (though heaven might still see them as such). They’d seem average which means they’d be just as screwed up as any human.

*Poof* Emma Jane was born in my imagination and with her all the ups and downs that come with discovering who—and what—she is. The rest of the story falls into place… How would heaven react to her awakening? What would they want from her? What about her angelic father? What about her human family? The story pretty much unfolded in my mind after that.

[Manga Maniac Café] What was the most challenging aspect of writing this series?

[Paige Cuccaro] Not getting sidetracked by religious dogma and spending pages and pages explaining things that, while interesting, had nothing to do with the story. I can’t help it, I love that kind of stuff. And figuring out seemingly logical explanations for supernatural occurrences is like crack for me.

[Manga Maniac Café] What are three things Emma would never have in her jacket pockets?

[Paige Cuccaro] A lipstick, a stamp or a pen. The girl’s totally unprepared and so not the girly type.

[Manga Maniac Café] What are your greatest creative influences?

[Paige Cuccaro] Documentaries. All kinds really. I enjoy taking what we know to be fact and twisting it just enough so you wonder…could that be true? Religious documentaries are my favorite though. Also, running water is an awesome creative spark. I get the BEST ideas in the shower. Is that weird?

[Manga Maniac Café] What three things do you need in order to write?

[Paige Cuccaro] My min laptop

My notes

And quiet

[Manga Maniac Café] If you had to pick one book that turned you on to reading, which would it be?

[Paige Cuccaro] Interview With A Vampire, by Anne Rice. No question. The woman is amazing!! Of course I read books before this one, but it was this book that REALLY hooked me on storytelling, reading it, writing it, the whole ball of wax. If I could do for one person what that book did for me, I’d die happy.

[Manga Maniac Café] What do you like to do when you aren’t writing?

[Paige Cuccaro] I’m a HUGE movie buff. I LOVE going to the movies, but hate the crowds. Late night showings, or middle of the afternoon when everyone is asleep or at work are my favorite times to go. Love having the theater to myself. And when there’s nothing worth the late night trek, I read…and read…and uh, read.

I enjoy swimming, and riding my motorcycle and I LOVE spending time with my daughters. (They’re the coolest, smartest, funniest people I know.) But watching movies and reading is pretty much like breathing for me. Gotta do it.

You can purchase Hellsbane from your favorite bookseller. It is available in both print and digital format:

A HELLSBANE BOOK – Book One – by Paige Cuccaro

Emma Jane Hellsbane just found out she’s not human—or, at least, not only human. She’s half angel, too, and now Heaven’s got a job for her: round up all the Fallen angels and their red-skinned, horned devil-demon minions and boot their butts back into the abyss. Only problem? The demons and their Fallen masters fight back…and they don’t fight fair.

Luckily for Emma, she can put a stop to the constant threat of having her head hacked off if she figures out which Fallen angel is her father—and then kill him before he kills her. Of course, in the meantime, she’ll have to avoid accidentally seducing her angelic mentor, help an old friend conquer his own Fallen sperm donor, and basically save the world from a cataclysmic divine smack down.

No one said being Heaven’s bounty hunter would be easy. But with a name like Hellsbane, Emma Jane was born for the job.